Horace loed



(No Model.)

H.`L0RD.

REVOLVER; 10.303,172. PatentedAug. 5, 1884.

Nrrax rares minar trier..

HORACE LORD, OFS HARTFORD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR "TO COLTS PAT- ENT FIRE-ARMS MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

REVOLVER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patellis No. 303,172, dated August 5, 1884.

Application lcd May 21,1854. (No model.)

To all wle/0771, am/ay concer/1,:

Be it known that I, HORACE LORD, of Hart ford, in the county ofIIartiord and State of Connectieut,have invented new Improvements in Revolvers; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connection with accompanying drawings and the letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which said IO drawings constitute'part of this specification,

and represent, in

Figure l, a side view of a revolver, showing my improvements, Figs. 2 and 3, horizontal sections through the movable part of the shield and slide, tov illustrate the construction and operation.

This invention relates to an improvement in that class of revolvers in which the cylinder is arranged to swing outward from its recess in the frame for the purpose of loading or ejccting the shells, and to that class in which a portion of the plate or shield is made movable backward and forward to open and close the recess in the frame at the rear of the cylinder, and into which the latch must pass. AS

heretofore constructed,and as seen in the patents of Mason, Nos. 249,649 and 250,375, this.

portion of. the shield was arranged so as to require to be mechanically moved rearward to open the recess to throw out the cylinder, and then, after the cylinder is closed, the shield mechanically moved forward to close the recess. In the later patent of Mason, N o. 263,551, this portion of the shield is moved rearward mechanically, and is in connection with a system of levers, whereby it is held open until the return of the cylinder to its place; then, when the said system of levers is permitted to react, the removable portion of 4o the shield is returned.

The object of my invention is to avoid the mechanical movement of the shield as the cylinder is returned toits place by making that movement automatic and without the com- 4 5 plicated system of levers in the last-mentioned patent; and in a construction, as more fully hereinafter described, and particularly recited in the claim, whereby such forward automatic movement ofthe movablepart ofthe shield is 5o attained my invention consists.

A is the fran1c,to the forward end of which the barrel B is attached, and to the rear the lock mechanism and handle. It is also con structed with the usual recess forthc cylinder C, the cylinder arranged to be turned outward 5 5 from its recess upon a hinge, D, at the top, as

from the position in Fig. 2 to that seen in Fig.

3. The construction whereby the cylinder is permitted or made to turn outward constitutes no part of my invention, and the peculiar 6o mechanism herein shown whereby that result is accomplished is the invention of another, and need not be described in this specification, further than to say that the frame at the forward end is divided7 a portion, E, on the left 65 side carrying the spindle on which the cylin der is hung, this part E hung to the frame above, as at D. From the part E an arm, F, extends downward, and to this arm the trigger-guard lever G is hinged, as at H,iand so that taking hold of the trigger-guard lever G Y and turning it outward to the left the cylinder will be moved with it, as from the position iu Fig. 2 to that in Fig. 3. On one side of the frame (the right) is the fixed part I of the shield. On the opposite side the eorrespondin g part, L, is made movable back and forth, as seen in Figs. 2 and 3, to the position seen in, broken lines in those figures and return. On the rear of the cylinder is the usual ratchet, (t, 8o by which the cylinder is rotated. In the frame is a recess corresponding to the ratchet in the usual manner, as seen in Fig. 2, and so that when the cylinder is in its place the ratchet is partially inclosed by the surround S5 ing-walls of that recess. The part L of the shieldextends outward yfrom a slide, M, arrangedto move longitudinally in the frame.

It is constructed with a spindle, extending rearward into a corresponding cavity in the 9o frame, and in that cavity, or a portion ofit, is a spring, d, surrounding the spindle, the action of which is4 to force the shield into its forward or closed position, as seen in Fig. 2. The front face ofthe part L-that is, the face next the g 5 cylinder-is inclined outward and rearward,

as at c, and so that while the inner edge, f, of the shield overlaps the ratchet and i'orms one of the Walls of the recess the distance between the front face of the shield at the outside and roo the rear end of the cylinder is greater than the thickness of the ratchet. To remove the cylinder the operator places his thumb upon the movable part of the shield and draws it rearward against the pressure of the spring, as indicated in broken lines, Fig. 2, so far as to open thc recess in which the ratchet stands, and in that condition the cylinder is free to be turned outward; then, releasing the shield, it

2o closes the recess and holds the cylinder in its place in the frame. This inclined front face ofthe shield,whereby the cylinder may be rcturned to its place without a mechanical movement of the shield, the movement of thc shield being automatic, constitutes the essential feature of my invention.

I claim- In a revolver substantially such as described, and in which the cylinder is arranged to swingoutward from its recess in the frame, the movable part L of the shield, constructed with its front face inclined outward and rearward, combined with a spring, the tendency of .which is to force the movable part forward, and whereby in returning the cylinder to its place the movable part of the shield reccdcs under the action ofthe moving` cylinder and automatically returns to close the recess around the ratchet, substantially as described.

EDW. J. MURPHY', ALEXANDER K. McCoRKnLL. 

